Isaiah 19:1-8 KJV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 19:1-17

Though the land of Egypt had of old been a house of bondage to the people of God, where they had been ruled with rigour, yet among the unbelieving Jews there still remained much of the humour of their fathers, who said, Let us make us a captain and return into Egypt. Upon all occasions they trusted to Egypt for help (Isa. 30:2), and thither they fled, in disobedience to God's express command, when things were brought to the last extremity in their own country, Jer. 43:7. Rabshakeh upbraided... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:1

The burden of Egypt ;.... Or a prophecy concerning Egypt, as the Arabic version; a very grievous one, declaring many calamities that should come upon them. The Targum is, "the burden of the cup of cursing, to make the Egyptians drink.' The people of the Jews reposed great confidence in the Egyptians their allies; wherefore, in order to break this confidence, it was necessary they should be acquainted with the destruction that was coming upon them, which is the design of this prophecy. ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:2

And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians ,.... Or mingle and confound them together; in which confusion they should fall upon and destroy one another, as the Midianites did: the phrase is expressive of rebellions and civil wars, as the following words explain it; and which show, that the calamities of Egypt should be brought upon them, not by means of a foreign invasion, but by internal quarrels, and other means, which the Lord would in judgment send among them: and they shall... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:3

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof ,.... Meaning not the spirit of valour and courage, that is expressed before, but of wisdom, prudence, and understanding; the wisdom of Egypt, in which Moses is said to be brought up, Acts 7:22 was famous all the world over; hither men of learning, as the ancient philosophers, Pythagoras, Plato, and others, travelled, to improve in knowledge, and gain a larger acquaintance with things human and divine; it was the mother and mistress... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:4

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel lord ,.... Not of Sennacherib king of Assyria, which way go many interpreters, both Christian and Jewish, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; nor of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as in Jeremiah 46:25 but either of the twelve tyrants that rose up after the death of Sethon above mentioned; for the word is in the plural number, "lords", though the adjective rendered "cruel" is singular; or else Psammiticus, the father of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:5

And the waters shall fail from the sea ,.... Which Kimchi understands figuratively of the destruction of the Egyptians by the king of Assyria, compared to the drying up of the waters of the Nile; and others think that the failure of their trade by sea is meant, which brought great revenues into the kingdom: but, by what follows, it seems best to take the words in a literal sense, of the waters of the river Nile, which being dried up, as in the next clause, could not empty themselves into the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:6

And they shall turn the rivers far away ,.... The river Nile, called "rivers", the plural for the singular, because of the abundance of water in it; or its seven streams, with other rivulets, derived from it. Some make the "they" here to refer to the kings of Egypt, and interpret the words of some projects of theirs, by which the course of the river was turned to great disadvantage; particularly they understand it of the twelve tyrants that reigned after Sethon, to whom they ascribe the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:7

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks ,.... Not at the fountain or origin of the Nile and its streams, but by the sides thereof; on the banks of which grew a reed or rush, called by the Greeks "papyrus" and "biblus"; from whence come the words "paper" and "bible", or book, of which paper was anciently made; even as early as the times of Isaiah, and so, many hundreds of years before the times of Alexander the great, to which some fix the era of making it. "According to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:8

The fishers also shall mourn ,.... Because there will be no fish to catch, the waters of the river being dried up, and so will have none to sell, and nothing to support themselves and families with; and this must also affect the people in general, fish being the common food they lived upon, see Numbers 11:5 , not only because of the great plenty there usually was, but because they killed and ate but very few living creatures, through a superstitious regard unto them; though Herodotus says ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 19:1

The burden of Egypt - That is, the prophet's declaration concerning Egypt. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 19:1-17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 19:8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 19:1

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